Hoisting apparatus.



V. R. 6; E. H. BROWNING. HOISTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1904.

PATENTED FEB. 5, 1907.

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A TTORNE Y.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFIGE.

VICTOR R. BROWNING AND EARL n. snownrne, or NOTTINGHAM, OHIO.

HOlSTlNG APPARATUS.

Original application filed October 4, 1901,

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known ti at we, VICTOR R. Beowu- ING and EARL H. BROWNING, citizens of tl-e United States, residing at Nottingl am, in tl e county of Cuyaloga and State of Ohio, l: ave invented a new and useful Improvement in Hoisting Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification.

'Ti is invention relates in general "to hoisting apparatus, and h as more particular reference to the means employed for dispensing with. the auxiliary hoist in devices of t is kind, said means consisting of a di'l'l'ereiitial meel anism which is connected with. the motor in such a way tl at by throwing in the low speed additional lifting force may be secured or by throwing in the high-speed meel'ianism a more rapid lifting movement with conseqnent loss of lifting force may be secured.

()nr invention l1 as for its objects, ti: erefore, the production of a device whereby the speed of lifting can be conveniently controlled without impairing the elliciency of the motor.

Tl is application is a division of our former application filed October 4, 1901, Serial No. 77,612.

In the drawings forming part of this application, higure 1 shows a longitiidinal section through our improved hoisting apparatus, taken in a vertical planet-hrough the center.

Pig. 2 shows a viewloching toward the rigl'zthand end of Fig. 1, a portion 01 the diil'erential gearing mechanism being shown in section, said section being taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. This iigure also sli'ows in diagram the electric controller 1 switch. for regi'llating the strength of current in the electric brake and the magnetic clutch for the dill'erential gear mechanism, and Fig. 3 shows a modi'lied form oi the contacting surfaces for the magnetic clutch.

Sin'iilar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings lilereto'lore, as far as we are aware, it h been necessary, especially in overl. cad travel lng cranes, to provide two independent hoisting devices to operate on light and heavy loads. To operate these cranes economically, it is desirable that the speed ofhoisting should be proportioned to the weight o'f the load; otherwise alight load would require as long a time for handling as would a much heavier one. It has. not been practicable to change the rate of hoisting to a suiiicient gree with one hoisting device to satiety the Specification of Letters Patent. Serfal No. 77,612. Dividedgtnd this application filedlYIay 10,1904. Serial No. 207,342.

, understood, how ever I-atented Feb. 5, 1907.

requirements for light and heavy loads, however, without greatly sacrificing the ellieiency of ti .e motors employed, it being understoodthat in order to get the greatest ciliciency out oi a motor it should be run at the speed for which it is designed. In order to avoid the expense and the necessity of employing both a main and an auxiliary hoist, we have devised adiil'erential gear mecl anism wlich is connected to tl e shaft of our motor, b y means of which we can at will convert the single hoisting device from a main llOlS'D'fOl heavy loads to an auxiliary hoist for light loads. Furthermore, we l; ave rendered the device very light and compact by using the hoisting-drum as the lield magnet for the hoisting-motor. With these features of construction we also combine certain sai'ct a pliances, so that our hoisting mechanism 1s rendered entire y sale and reliable.

in the drawings, 3, Fi 1, shows a portion D of the runway upon which the trolley eon-- taining our invention travels. it will be that our diil'ere'ntial mechanism is applicable to any sort of hoisting de *ice where clillerentspeeds of hoist are required. The traclewheels 1 ol the trolley are secured to shafts 5, which are journaled to the lower side of the frame, the longitudinal members of which are shown at 6. Hising above these longitudinal members, pref erably over the axles o, are the end frames 7 and 8, these frames being broad at their bases and converging toward their tops,

in order to economize weight and space an expense, we cause the hoistingdru1n, which is shown at 9, to serve not only as a drum for hoisting, but as the field-magnets for our motor. As it is necessary for the drum to turn and also for the armature to rotate within the same, it is necessary to form the journals of the arniature-shaft within the journals of the hoistingdrum. This, will readily be seen, will require large trunnions or journals for the hoistingdrum, which journals are placed in the end frame-pieces 7 and S, as sliowr at 11) in Fig. 1.. In order to overcome the friction in these journals as far as possible, wli provide the bearings with nests o'l" rollers, which are shown at 1.1.

'llhe'motor-shaft, which is indicated at 12, passes through the center of the trunnions for the drum and extends for some distance beyond the end frame 8. Keyed to the l shalt ear its right-hand end, as seen in carried by the same is a trunnion-frame 1c,

the gears 17;, 19, and 20 to the h istinghe same, and as they are securely journaled in the trunnion-frame 1 1 the frame and the inion 16 will be driven slowly, which will also, through its train of gears and shaft 18, drive the hoisting-drum 9 at a slow speed. There fore when it is desired to lift a heavy load the brake-strap 25 should be caused to engage tightly with the surface of the frame piece 23, whichwill hold the internal gear 22 from rotation. There are times, however, when it is very desirable to rotate the hoisting-drum at. a much greater speed and for this reason it should be made possible to turn the pinion 16 at higher rates of speed, the highest possible rate tor the mechanism shown being that at whichthe pinion 13 or the motor-shaft 12 is driven.

F or urposes of description we will first as sume ti at we desire to change the slow speed for; heavy. loadawhichis secured, as above described, to the highest rate of-speedthat is, to the speed which is attained when the pinion 16 is driven with the shaft. As has been stated, when theirame 23 and its internal gear are held stationary the frame 1 1 rotates within the same. 11"" now the trunnionframe and the frame 23 were locked together, so that they would be compelled to rotate as a single piece, and the brakestrap 25 were loosened, so-that, they could so rotate, the pinion 13, planetrgears 21, internal gear 22, and inion=16 would all be rigidly locked and won (1 all rotate together as one gear. Consequently when the motor-shaft was turned the frame 23 and all the gears which it contains-would be driven with the ame, and motion would be transmitted through the train of gears tothe hoisting-drum, driving the same at a ver r much higher speed than when the trunnion-frame was permitted to move. Various means may be employed for locking the trunnion-frame and the frame 23 together; butv we clutch mechanism which is shown in Fig. 1. The framepiece 23, which is made of iron, has a circular recess extending about and at some little distance from the hub of the trun- Dion-flame, upon which it is mounted. l Vithin this recess we place a coil oi wire 26 and secure the same in place in the recess by means of arr annular soft-iron plate 27. The ends of this coil are drawn through a hol e which is made in the part 23 and thence through a hole through the same frame outside the internal gear 22 to rin s 28, which are carried in the outerside of t 1e irame-piece 2 1. lhesc rings, it will be understood, extend entii il v about the motor-shaft, so that the may he constantly engaged by brushes 29, which are carried by a bracket 30, projecting from the frame-piece 8. In Fig. 2 we have shown at 31 a conventional form of controller it which is placed in the electric Fig. 1, is a pinion i -also mounted to turn upon this end of the shaft or upon bushings i which consists of two disk-shaped side plates, which for the purpose or" giving the required strength are cast with suitable connecting portions. (Shown at 15 in Fig. 2.) hat face of the disk-shaped side plate which is next to the frame-piece 8 of the trolley is provid'ed with a pinion -16, which meshes with a large gear-wheel 17. This gear-wheel is keyed to a longitudinal shaft 18, which, journaledin the side names-1.7 and 8- above the motor-shaft 12 and which carries .neani ts end opposite the gear 17 azpinion 19; This pinion, which is driven with the shaft, meshes with alarge annula: gear 20, which islreye'd to the end. of the hoisting-druin 9.- From this des'cri tionit willlbe seenthatwhenthe trunnionm'ame 14,, with itspinion 16, turned motionwill betransinitted through drum 9.

Journaled, within.; the trunnion-frame 14 are annmberlofplanet-gears21, all of which mesh with the pinion13, which, ashas been stated, is keyedto the shaft'lZ. When the shaft is turned, therefora-and these planet gears are permittedto rotate, they will turn on their axles in a direction opposite to that of the pinion 13. The disk-like plates of the trunnion-frame 1e are each provided on their outer sides with hubdilre extensions, upon which is trunnioned a frame which carries an internalzgeai: 22, which /is in line and in mesh with the. planet-gears elf This frame is composed of two main pieces23 and 24, which are suitably secured together, so as to form a box-like covering for the various gears.

Were the internal gear 22 and its supporting frame-piece 23 permitted to do so, they would turn freely upon their trunnions if the motor-shaft 12 were rotated, and no power would be transmitted through the trains of gears extending to the hoisting drum. When, however, this frame and its internal gear are held stationary, while the mot r.- shai t with its pinion 13 is rotated in either direction, the planetgearing will be caused to travel about Within the int rnal gear 22 in the same direction and will in this way cause the pinion 18 to be rotated at a speed which is very much slower than the speed of the pinion 13, the ratio of said speeds depending upon the ratio of the diameters of the gears 13 and 22. In order to hole the frame-piece 23 and, its internal gear from rotation, we groove its outer circumference for the reception of a brake-strap 25, which es aroun the s 1e and has its opposite I ends of a h sea,

be regulated or entirely cut oil. Vi hen the current is turned through the magnet eoils 26., the frame-piece, 23 is converted into an ,"electremagnet, the lines of force passing through that portion which is embraced by the -eoil,.thence,aeross the air-gap between the framepie'ce' 23 and the. trunnion-frame .14 into the trunnion-frame, thence across the air gap again, thence through .the frame-piece .23 outside the coil, and thence through the plate 27, 'thu .s completing the circuit. As is well understood, t 1e trunnion-frame i l will be very-strongly attracted by and will be izo drawn up to the'i rame-piece 23, to which it will adhere so closely as to prevent slippage between the contacting surfaces. In view ofthe previous description lbNlll now be unincluding'the pinion 16, will be driven as one piece with the motor-shaft,wlnch will greatly ends to the bell-crank 26.

increase the speed of the hoisting-drum. The pun-ens 18 and 16 and also the internal gear 22 are provided with elongated teeth, so as tov permit the trunnionirame, with its planetgearlng and pinion 16, to be drawn over and still remain perfectly in mesh. .30

.In order to permit the frame-piece 23 to rotate as above described, it is necessary to loosen the lirakestrap '25, which normally holds it stationary. As has been stated,

this brake-strap is secured at its opposite This bell-crank "is pivoted to a bracket 32, which projects from the main piece 8. Secured to this bellcrank 'and rigid therewith is a lever-arm 33, which projects forwardly below the frame piece 23 and carries at its forward end a weight 34. As long as this weight is permitted to holddown the end of this lever the brake-strap will be held tightly about the circumference ol the frame-piece 23, thus holding the same from rotation. Y Before it can be permitted to rotate, therefore, this brake-strap must be loosened, and in order to secure this resultwe provide an electromagnct 35, which is secured to a bracket 36, projeeting from the main frame-piece 8. This magnet, which is of peculiar construction in order that it may attract its plunger 37 with as great force as possible, is composed of an outer solt-iron cylindrical shell, within which is placed the nmgr1etcoils. Projecting from the top of the magnet at the center between the coils is a soft-iron boss or hubfig, said boss being provided with a conical countersink to lit the upper end'ol the plunger 37. [lhis plunger forms a portion of the armature, the main portion 39 of which is jointllns structure causes the hues ol' lorce to pass upwardly I edly secured to the lever 33.

through the plunger and thence across the gapbetween the'conical end thereof and the l countersink in the magnet. This gives the magnet the effect of a solenoid, so that when the lever 33 is 111 its lowermost position the magnet will have sul'licient strength to draw 1n the plunger and hit the lever.

The armature 39 will also-be attracted by the lower portion of the shell, which will securely hold the lever in its position with the brake-strap released. As will be understood, it is necessary to release this brake-strap to free the frame-piece 23 at the same time that the current is thrown into the l'riotion-clulch coils 2-6, and for this reason the-two magnet-coils are placed in series, the/same current passing around both. l Vhenover, therefore, the cur rent is turned into this circuit-,it will result in releasing the frame-piece 23 from the brake-strap atlhe same time that it secures it to the trumiion-lramo 1 1. When, there fore, it is desired to change the hoist from a slow to a high speed, all that is necessary is to turn the switch 31 and throw the current through these two 'nmgnot-coils.

Thus far we have described our device as adapted to only two spccds.-viz., the slow speed l'or heavy hoisting and the rapid speed when the gears are lirmly locked together and rotate with theslial't; 'lhere are loads, howover, which are too heavy l'or this very high speed and too light to make it economical to use the very slow speed, the ratio ol these speeds under most conditions being about four to one, although any ot her ratio may be employed. It is desirable, therel'orc, to provide structure whereby any required intermediate speed may be secured. The structure already described, however, is adapted to this end, l'or the reason that the surl'accs between the brakwstrap and the l'ran'ie-picce 23 and between this piece and the trunnionl ran'ie are smooth and may be permitted to slip when in contact. Now the case with which these surl'acos may slide upon ach other will depend upon the strength ol the current passing through the magnet 35 and the friction-brake coils 26. Thus when the lever ol the switch 3 is moved to the 'lirst segment shown a weak current will pass, which will loosen the liralw-stlap only slightly and will also create only a. small amount ol friction between the trunliion-lra1no and the frame-pieces 23. Consequently the l'ramepiece 23 will move very slowly, whi lo the movement between the trunnion-l'rainc and the lran'ie-piere will be butslightlydiminished, so that'tlmrate ol hoisting will not be very greatly in reused. When, however, the switchlever is moved to the l'arthest segment and the current is thrown on in full strength, the trunnion-frame will be securely held to the framepiece and thebrake-strap entirely released, so that the maximum rate of hoisting will be secured. it will be understood that when the switch-lever is placed upon any of the intermediate segments the strength of current Will permit be again changed, and the amount of slippage in the brake and the friction-clutch will also vary, so that the speed of hoisting will be changed. in this way any speed desired Within the two fixed limits iirst described may be secured.

I l vfhile We have never had any dilliculty and believe that no (ii'lliculty will ever be 8X- peri'enced in using smooth contacting sur faces between the trunnion-heme and. the frame-piece 23, at the same time if it should be found that a suflicient amount of friction cannot be produced between these surfaces to hit the required loads they may be corrugated, as shown in the detailed view in Fig. 3, in which lrepresents the trunnion-frame and 23 the frame-niece, as before. When constructed in this manner, it will be impossible for these surfaces to slip unless they cam themselves apart, and the pull of the electromagnet Will be su'li'icicnt to prevent any such action. As Will be evident, however, this construction makes only the two extreme speeds of hoist possible, and for this reason we prefer notto use the corrugated surface except under conditions when it becomes a solutely essential.

has been stated, the drum 9 is caused to serve as the field-magnet for the electric motor, Vt ith this end in view We form in the in ier surface oi the drum a suitable number of inivaruly-projecting polc-pieces 40, about which placed spools of magnet-wire, as shown at 41. The current for the motor enters, say, through the Wire 42 to the brush 4-3, and from thence to'the ring is, which is mounted upon the end of the orum 9. From this the current is led tluough the wire 45 and brush it to the armature 4?. lifter passing through the armature the current is led by Way of the brush. 48 to the field-magnet coils 4i, and thence to the ring &9 on the end of the drum, from which it then returns through. the brush 50 and wire 51 to its orlginal starting-point it will thus be seen that the armature and field-coils are in series, although they may obviously be placed in parallel, it pro in order g 3 i any )ossioi y of a fall or too raoid lescent of the loadby reason of "the stoppage of the current or the breakage i or the driving parts, piacc at some convinient and suitable point in the train of gearing safety lowering device, which will the load to descend only the motor s positively driven in a reverse direction. "this device is re ted at 52 and is shown '11 the drawin s as a plied to the shaft Inasmuch as this device is not a part of the sent invention, We do not think it necesto describe in detail herein. laying thus described our i vention, r We claim as and desire to secure l planet-gears in mesh with said pin passing through said drum, a motor mounted within said orum for turning said shaft, a pinion secured to the shaft, a planetgear in mesh with said pinion and mounted to revolve about the san e, an internal gear surrounding the orbit of said planet-gear with which it is in mesh, a frame in which the planet-gear is trunnioned, a pinion connected with said frame, and gearing connecting said. pinion With the drum.

2. In a hoisting apparatus, a drum, a shaft, a motor tor driving said shaft, a pinion secured to the shaft, a planet-gear in mesh with said pinion and mounted to revolve around the same, an internal gear surround ing the orbit of said planet-gear With which it is in mesh, means for holuing said internal gear from rotation, a l'rame inWhich the planet-gear is trunnionc-tl, a pinion connected with said frame, and gearing connecting said pinion with the drum.

3. in a hoisting apparatus, a drum, a shaft, a motor l or orivin; said shaft, a pinion secured to the shaft, a pian t-gear in mesh with said pinion and mounted to revolve about the some, an inter] a1 gear surrounding the orbit of said planet-gear with which it is in mesh, a friction-brake for normally holding said internal gearfrom rotation, a frame in which the planet-gear is trunnioned, a pinion connected with said frame, means for loosening the iriotion-brahe, means for securing the internal gear to the trunnion h'ame, anfl gearing connecting said pinion with the drum.

4-. In a luzistin; apparatus, a. drum, a shaft, a motor for driving said shaft, a pinion se cured to the shaft, planet-gears in mesh with said pinion and mounted to revolve about the same, an internal gear surrounding the orbit of said planet-gears with which it is in mesh, a triotion-brake for normally holding said internal gear from rotation, a frame in which the planet-gears are trunnioned, a pinion connected with said lran'le, means for loosening the friction-brake, means for simultaneously securing the internal gears to the trunnion-ireme, and gearing connecting said pinion with the drum.

5. in a hoisting apparatus, a drum, shaft passing through said drum a motor for drivy mg said shai't, a pinion s a,

ifliiiu to it anu mounted to revolve abi'iur the sash, so internal gear surroumliug the orbit of said planet-gears with which it is in mesh, a i116 tiCn-bralre for norm ally holding said. nternal gear from rotation, a frame in whwh the planet-gears are trunnioned, a pinion con nected with said frame, an elcctromagnet for loosening the friction-brake, a magnetic clutch for securing the internal gear to the trunnion-frame, and gearing connecting said pinion with toe dru passing through said drum, a motor mounted within said drum for turning said shaft, a pinion. secured to the shaft,planet-gears in mesh with said pinion and mounted to revolve about the same, an internal gear surrounding the orbit of said planet-gears with which. it is in mesh, a friction brake for normally holding said internal gear from rotation, a frame in Which the planet-gears are trunnioned, a pinion connected with said frame, an electromagnet for loosening the friction-brake, a magnetic clutch for securing the internal gear tothe trunnion-frame at the same time that the friction-hrake is loosened, and gearing connecting said pinion with the drum.

7. In a hoisting apparatus, adrum, a driven member, mechanism connecting said driven memh er with the drum to drive the same at a lei/v speed, other mechanism connecting the driven memoer With the drum to drive the same at a high speed, frictional devices in each of said mechanisms to render them operzftive and means for controlling the friction and the slip in said devices so as to secure intermediate speeds for the drum.

8. In a hoisting apparatus, a drum, a shaft, a motor for driving said shaft, mechanism for connecting said shaft With the drum to drive the same at a slow speed, other mechanism connecting the shaft With the drum to drive the same at a high speed, frictional devices in each of said mechanisms, and means for regulating the friction and the slip in said devices to secure any intermediate speed of the drum desired.

9. In a hoisting apparatus, a drum, a shaft passing through said drum, a motor mounted in said drum for driving said shaft, a train of low-speed gearing connecting said shaft and drum, another train of high-speed gearing also connecting said shaft and drum, fric t-ional devices in each of said mechanisms, and means for regulating the friction and the slip in said devices to secure any-intermediate speed of the drum desired.

10. In a hoisting apparatus, a drum, a shaft passing through said drum, a motor mounted in the drum for driving the shaft, a train'of low-speed gearing connecting the drum and shaft, a friction-brake cooperating with said gearin to secure the low speed, another train of high-speed gearing also connecting the drum and shaft, a friction-clutch cooperating With the latter train to secure the high speed, and means forsimultaneously regulating the friction and the slip in the said brake and clutch in order to secure any intermediate speed desired.

lllnahoistin a) aratus adrum ashaft passing through said drum, a motor mounted in the drum for driving the shaft, a train of low-speed gearing connecting the drum and shaft, a magnetically-controlled frictionbrake cooperating with said gearing to secure the loW speed, another train of high speed gearing also connecting the drum and shaft, a magnetic friction-clutch coo crating with the latter train to secure the hig speed,

and means for simultaneously regulating the friction and the slip in the said brake and clutch in order to secure any intermediate speed desired.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

' VICTOR 1ft. BROWNLN EARL H. BROWNING. Witnesses:

JAY Vii LEEPER, E. DEEGAN. 

